强制性选举 Compulsory voting

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Rob...
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语。我是罗伯。
And I’m Neil. Hello.
大家好，我是尼尔。
Hello, Neil! Today we’re talking about voting.Now I’m sure it’s something you’ve done Neil?
你好，尼尔。今天我们谈论的是选举。我相信你已经经历过投票选举了。
Of course – and earlier this year we had a general election in the UK where I voted. And I’d feel guilty if I didn’t exercise my right to vote. Now a right in this case means somebody’s legal claim to vote.
当然。今年初英国大选，我参与了投票。我感觉如果不行使选举权，我会很遗憾。这里的权利是指合法的选举权。
In a general election we vote for a government that runs the whole country, but we also have local and European elections too sometimes.
大选时，我们投票选出管理整个国家的政府。当地或者欧洲议会选举，我们也会进行投票。
Yes but voting in the UK is optional – so you don’t have to do it, whereas in some countries voting is compulsory- and compulsory means something that you have to do.
但是英国大选的投票是可以选择的，你不是必须进行投票，但是在某些国家，投票是强制性的。强制性意味着你必须要做某件事。
So if you were in Australia, where the government passed a law that made voting compulsory, you would have had to pay a fine of $20 for not voting.
澳大利亚政府颁布法律，要求强制性投票，如果你不参与投票，就要付罚金20美元。
And that’s because the Australian government believes that voting is a duty and not just a right.
因为澳大利亚政府认为选举不仅是权利，更是一种义务。
Duty means something you have a responsibility to do.
义务是指你有责任去做某事。
And it’s your duty Rob to ask me today’s quiz question!
向我提问今天的问题就是你的责任了！
Yes, sir! So can you tell me, what is a constituency? Is it …a) the people who live in and vote in a particular area?b) the politicians who make and change the laws of a country?or c) a town or district that has its own government?
是的！你能告诉我，什么是选民吗？a) 在某地居住并进行选举的人民b) 一个国家颁布和更改法律的政客c) 拥有自己政府的城镇或区域
Well I’m no expert on politics… but I’m going to go for c) that’s a town or district that has its own government.
我不擅长政治。但是我想选c) 拥有自己政府的城镇或区域。
OK. Well, we’ll find out later on in the show whether you’re right or wrong.Now it’s time to hear what a truly young person has to say about compulsory voting.
节目最后再看你回答得是否正确。现在听一听真正的年轻人是怎么谈论强制性投票的。
Oh right, unlike me you mean?Well, here’s Michael Yip, who is a student at Warwick University and therefore much younger than me.
你是说我不是年轻人？好吧，我们来听听Michael Yip的观点。他是华威大学的学生，确实比我年轻。
A lot of the people that I speak to just say ’I don’t care’ or ’I don’t really know what’s going on’ and in this way, another reason why I’m quite cautious about this is because it could sort of engender this sort of slapdash attitude towards politicswhere you know it’s sort of seen as, you know, being conscripted for national service … you just want to get it over and done with.
很多人都说“我不在乎”，“不明白政治走向”，对强制性选举我十分谨慎的原因在于，这有可能会激发年轻人对政治的敷衍态度，就如你所知的，这就像征兵入伍，你就是想快点结束这一切。
So Michael says he is cautious about the idea of introducing compulsory voting.So why is that, Neil?
迈克尔说他对强制性投票保持谨慎态度。为什么呢？
He thinks forcing young people to vote will engender – or give rise to – a slapdash attitude.Now what does slapdash mean, Rob?
他认为强迫年轻人进行选举会激发或造成对政治的敷衍态度。敷衍是指什么呢？
It’s a good word, isn’t it? It means doing something quickly and carelessly.
这个词不错，不是吗？它是指做事迅速草率。
Oh you’ve never do that, would you?Now, Michael compares compulsory voting to national service.National service is compulsory government service that usually means military service and is also known as conscription.
你没有仓促投票吧？迈克尔将强制性选举比作是兵役。兵役是强制性的政府服务，一般是指服兵役，也称为征兵。
So when it’s something you haven’t chosen to do, or which you actively don’t want to do– it’s a case of getting it over and done with.
如果某件事是你选择不做，或不主动做的，你就只想快点结束，草草了事。
And that means finishing something difficult or unpleasant as quickly as possible.
这意味着尽可能快的完成某件难事或不开心的事。
Young people might just pick a political party out of a hat – which means to choose randomly – rather than making an informed choice.
年轻人可能只是随意地选择一个政党，而不是在了解的基础上做出选择。
So some people think that politicians need to improve political education.Now let’s listen to broadcaster and writer Rick Edwards talking about this.
所以一些人认为政客需要加强对年轻人的政治教育。我们来听听广播员兼作家Rick Edwards对此的看法。
If you said to politicians, ’Right, 3.3 million first-time voters are definitely going to vote’,then they will have to speak to them and they will have to make an effort to go to where they areand I think that’s the change it would create.
如果你对政客说：“有三百三十万第一次参与选举的选民要进行投票”，政客就会与他们交流，走近他们，我认为这会带来一些改变的。
So compulsory voting would mean a responsibility for the politicians too.
强制性选举对政客而言是一种责任。
That’s right. They need to engage and educate young people.Otherwise reluctant voters may deliberately spoil – or waste – their votes.
没错。他们需要走近年轻人，对他们灌输政治教育。否则，那些不情不愿的选民只会浪费选票。
The government could also include a ’none of the above’ option on the ballot paper.
政府应该在选票上增加“以上皆非”这个选项。
Can you explain a bit more about that Rob?
你能进一步解释一下吗?
Well, it means you tick this option if you don’t want to vote for any of the listed political parties.
这是指如果你不想投票给任何一个党派，那么就涂上这一选项。
An interesting idea. Well my option for now is to get the answer to the quiz question.
很有意思的想法。我的选择是该知道问题的答案了。
OK, well, I asked: What is a constituency?Is it … a) the people who live in and vote in a particular area?b) the politicians who make and change the laws of a country?Or c) a town or district that has its own government?
好的，问题是：什么是选民？a) 在某地居住并进行选举的人民b) 一个国家颁布和更改法律的政客c) 拥有自己政府的城镇或区域
I said c) a town or district that has its own government.
我选的是c) 拥有自己政府的城镇或区域。
Well, you ticked the wrong box, Neil! The answer is a) the people who live in and vote in a particular area.Now, did you know the UK is currently divided into 650 areas called parliamentary constituencies,each of which is represented by one MP in the House of Commons? And each constituency can have a different area.The largest is Ross, Skye and Lochaber in Scotland measuring approximately 12,000 square kilometres.The smallest constituency is Islington North in London measuring a little over seven square kilometres.Now, can we hear today’s words again please, Neil?
你选错了，尼尔。正确答案是a) 在某地居住并进行选举的人民。你知道吗？英国划分了650个议会选区，每一个选区有一个下议院的议员代表。每个选区的区域不同。最大的是苏格兰的罗尔斯、斯凯岛和洛哈伯，将近12000平方公里。最小的选区是伦敦的北伊斯灵顿，只有区区七平方公里。现在，我们再来听听今天提到的单词吧？
OK. We heard:
好的，我们听到的单词有：
right
权利
general election
大选
compulsory
强制性的
duty
责任
engender
产生
slapdash
草率的
national service
兵役
conscription
征兵
over and done with
了结
pick (a political party) out of a hat
随意选择
spoil
糟蹋，浪费
Splendid! Well, that’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English. I hope it got your vote!You can hear more programmes at bbclearningenglish.com.Please join us again soon.
很好！今天的六分钟英语就到这里。希望本期节目能得到你们的支持。登陆bbclearningenglish.com可以查看更多节目。下次节目再会！